Social care safety paints ‘concerning picture’ - Lib Dems

One in four social care services are failing on safety, the care regulator has said. Analysis by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shows that 23% of care homes, nursing homes and services providing care in people's homes require improvement on safety while a further 2% are inadequate.

Commenting on the news, Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb said:

"This paints an incredibly concerning picture of the state of social care services across the country and I fear this will only get worse as the Government repeatedly fail to address the fundamental challenges around finances and staffing in the sector.

"We have already seen reports today that there is a fall in the number of people working in our care homes, particularly staff from other EU countries, post-Brexit. Furthermore councils have repeatedly warned of a looming multi-billion funding gap in services. This simply cannot continue.

"More than a million older people are missing out entirely on support they need and this report shows the quality of care for many more is sub-standard. Theresa May's Government must act to give the social care the investment it desperately needs, as a matter of urgency."